The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, December 11, 1924, Image 2
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PAGE TWO
THE CLINTON CHRONICLE, CLINTON, 8. C.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1924
v
THE LAST OF THE BIGHAMS
(From The Florence New*-Review)
Solicitor Lomie M. Casque in his
address to the jury began by unfold
ing, as he eiqnesscd it, “The Bigham
Mystfery.” This suggested the writ
ing of a brief sketch of ths grim
tragedy, labeling the theme, “The
Last of the Bighams.”
The Bigham family Ived in the
Crum, or Paniplico section of Florence
county, on the old Florence-George-
town road. There was State Senator
M. M. Bigham, lord of a thousand
goodly acres, his wife of just propor
tions, two daughters and three ro
bust boys.
The elder Bigham, a hard, stern
man, lived n deadly fear of the courts.
He would gather his children about
him and in the long winter evenings
hold mock trials, drilling them in the
art of defense testimony.
He predicted for them all their days
in court. He little reckoned that he
would be the first of the Bighams to
fall.
sign three blank deeds so that in the
event of Cleveland giving himself up
or in ‘the event of her death the right
ful owners could regain possession of
the large property interests
It was in the fall of 1920 that Ed
mund moved his wife and two daugh
ters, Louise and Evelyn, back from
South Georgia, and took up their,
abode at the lod Bigham place.
It was soon apparent that there
was too many Bighams in one house;
it grew fram bad to worse until one
Saturday morning, January 8, 1921,
Edmund was seen to strike his sister
with a piece of scantling and with the
threat of death ringing in her efirs,
his sister rushed to Florence to make
out and sign the now famous Black
will.
Marjorie Black fled from the Big-
ham home, still stinging from the
blows administered by her brother,
Edmund.* With the threat, “I am go
ing to kill the last-one of you,” ring
He died mysteriously while appar- j ing in her ears, she half walked and
ip• get.feet heiiith, poisoned—it hal fran the entire distance of a mile
has bee nwhisperedoy nis ’veryoWTf!*?™" t™*- KrtOaJWmOjjJfc tafflHyJTeTgnbor
- Onue of tho sons, Edmund Bigham. that knew of all the unpleasantness
who fills a mapor part of this narra-1 nt the Bigham home and felt a-deep
live, came into his share of the Big-! s y m P a thy for Marjorie, and her moth-
ham estate shortly af^er the sudden
death of his father, married and mov-
e( j j nt0 Georgia. i the beating, the threats, and advised
One of the girls, Leathen, married Black to get in touch with her
and moved to Florence. She was the! brother, Smiley, at once, offering to
wife of the Florence county jailor and ■ t cn( ^ her the Kirton automobile to
was stricken by the dreaded influenza make the trip to Pamplico.
while living at the jail. Thus passed! Marjore Black reached Smiley
the second of this family. t about noon that day and returned with
The other daughter, Marjorie, has 1 him to the Kirton home, where they
taught School in Greenville where she f°und their old mother awaiting them,
met and married R. A. Black. They: The/ held a hurried consultation and
became estranged and she moved back decided that as the property was in
on the old Bigham place to live with
her brother, Smiley, and her mother,
Mrs. M. M. Bigham.
It was about this time that thebme
It was about this time that she
adopted two small children, John and
Leo McCracken. These five lived ap
parently at peace—but not for long.
Smiley Bigham was the first of the
Mrs. Black’s name and Edmund would
kill her first, that Marjorie should
make a last will and testament leav
ing all of the property to Smiley.
They borrowed the Kirton car to go to
Florence, where they sought out th6
family attorney, Phillip H. Arrow-
smith.
It was late when they arrived, the
Bighams to get in court. He was stenographer had gone home. Mr.
Arrowsmith wrote out the will in long
hand as Mrs. Black dictated the terms
of it to him and he called in G. T.
Bryce and Marshall Bridges of Flor
ence, to witness it.
They heard Mrs. Black tell of the
trouble at the Bigham home earlier,
that Saturday, January 8.
Mrs. Black was visibly excited and
suffering from‘the trying ordeal. As
charged with the murder of a negro
boy whose only crime had been hit
ting a mule of Smiley’s in the head
with a lump of dirt.
Dr. Cleveland Bigham, now men
tioned for the first time, had left the
Gigham place and married a fine lit
tle lady from Laurens county.
He had taken up the pi'a-tice of
medicine at Murrel”s Inlet in George
town county. He and his wife had' s b e tpid the attorney good-bye, she
lived in perfect accord but it seemed
that his wife knew too much about
Smiley’s connection with the murder
oif the negro boy, having been on a
visit to the old Bigham home the
night of the murder.
Ths doctor- remonstrated with her
forboded that probably it would be
for all time. She seemed to feel the
menace of the approaching tragedy.
Mrs. Black and $imley returned to
the Kirton home about 11:30 that
night. Smiely left his sister there
and went up to the Bigham home
not to testify against his brother. 1 alone. On the following Tuesday he
The good woman replisd that the s^te ( stopped at Mrs. Kirton’s and asked
subpoeaned her
had subpoeaned her and that she
would have to tell the truth. A few
nights after the doctor and his wife
had so quarreled, she • was mistaken
for a ghost on the sands of Murrell’s
Inlet ar.d shot to death.
Smiley Bigham was clear of the
charge of murder and all appeared
bright on the Bigham plantation—
when like a thunderbolt from a clear
sky came the news that Dr. Cleveland
Bigham was under arrest charged
with the slaying of his own wife.
A long legal battle then ensued.
The saving rays of the Bigham for
tune were turned to Ight up the dark
way of this son and brother, the doc
tor, and appeal was made, bond was
granted, Smiley and his mother sign
ing the bond.
Just before the day set for the sec
ond trial of Cleveland, he disappeared
and became a fugitive from justice lit
tle knowing that n a few years he
would be termed “The Last of the
Bighams.”
Juggled Deeds to Property
After Dr. Cleveland Bigham failed
her for a little satchel that his sister,
Marjorie, had left there Saturday
n ; ght. This satchel contained the
Black will.
More mystery! What did Smiley
want with the will? Was th# ,fact
that Mrs. Black’s death would restore
all the property to him effecting his
mind t ' -
Edmund Makes Threat
It was on Tuesday, afternoon of the
same day that Smiley had searched
the handbag at the Kirton home and
gotten possession of the will of Mrs.
Marjorie Black that we come to the
next episode in the Bigham mystery.
Walter Burch, one of the tenants
on the Bigham plantation, was in the
yard near the old home cutting wood
when his attention was attracted by
loud talking in the kitchen neraby.
He could hear the voice of Edmund
Bigham in loud threats against some
one inside. Soon after, Mrs. M. M.
Bigham, and Marjorie, her daughter,
came oue of the kitchen and beckoned
Walter to come near the steps. They
sent by Mrs. Bigham to watch over
Smiley, fearing in her mother’s heart
for his life.
The mother* knew that Smiley had
money on his person and valuable
papers that Edmund would give much
for. So Andrew followed him into
the woods at a respectful distance.
They came upon the group of woods
men sitting around a camp fire. Ed
mund appeared in a polly mood and
was loathe to leave the woods. Oiipe
when Smiley started to leave and re
turn to the Bigham home he told him,
“Wait a minute, Smileyfi let the others
go oif, walk with me by just one more
pile and I will then go on to the
house with you.” Smiley wsa never
Seen alive again.
The Final Tragedy
In our fourth episode we left Ed
mund and Smiley Bigham in the
woods together preparing to check up
one more stack of wood before re
turning to the Bigham home for din
ner. The Bigham mystery concerns
all that happened in the next hour and
a half. They were left alone in the
woods from 1:30 to 3:00 p. m.
The old mail carrier had arrived on
his daily visit to the Bigham estate
and Edmund was explaining to him
how it all occurred.
A Christmas Your Children Will
#• * * * • ^ v*
Always RememberZ-;-.-
o
The following version of
was- presented tCLJh& Horry founty
jury by Phillip H. ‘.Arrowsmith, at
torney in the prosecution of Edmund
Mrs. Kirton listened to the story o^Bigham for the wholesale murder,
somewhat in this wise:
“After killing the brother, Smiley,
in the woods about a half mile from
home, Edmund rushed back to the
Bigham home. He sneaked upstairs
surprising his sister, Marjorie, half
clothed in the act of manicuring her
nails.
_ “Shooting her in the temple he fled
downstairs running into the plder Mc
Cracken child on the back porch. He
He shot him in the same vital spot in
the head, the little boy rolling under
a long bench and dying instantly.
“The old mother, attracted by the
sounds of the shots came toward the
house. She had been to the mill to
have some meal ground and had hitch
ed the mule to a post near the lot.”
Edmund .is charged with having
fired at his mother while yet on the
porch; the bullet taking effect in the
neck.
The three year old McCracken boy
had been to the mill with his “Gran
ny” and evidently seeing her shot
doVrn had started to run. Edmund fol
lowed, watching for a chance to shoot
to a vital spot. „ /
The little fellow tripped and fell
over an old potato bank. With the
murderer right over him he raised
his arm to ward off the crashing bul
let. The crack of the 38 pistol, bruis-
(Continued on Page Three)
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to show up for his trial after the mur-1 "P oke . l ° thl! ( . ne « T ?. “ bout J E f lmu ^
der of his wife and the full realiaa- tkr ' a ‘ emng "T“ a " d
tion began to dawn upon Mra. Big- ,0 t0 Pam < )1 ' co at 0, ' ca ,0 f
ham and Smiley Bigham that as his
bondsmen they would have to sacrifice
their vast estates and pay up, there
was a wild scrambling of deeds in the
Bigham family.
The^court, knowing the financial
soundness of the Bighams, did not im
mediately press the bond for collect
ion and Cleveland kept getting far
ther away.
Smiley lost no time in hatching up
a diabolical scheme to defeat the col
lection of the bond.
His first step was to tear the re
cords of his ownership and that of
his mother’s in the estate from the
county clerk’s office. They then deem
ed the property to the two girla, Mrs.
Leather Cain and Mrs. Marjorie
Black. They deemed five-sixths to
Mrs. Cain and one-sixth to Mrs.
Black. - »
Then came the next tragedy in the
Bigham family. Mrs. Leather Cain
fell a victim to the dread influenza
that swept the world in 1920. She
died in the Florence county jail, her
husband, Bogan Cain, being the jailor
then.
Smiley and his mother were then
thrown in a quandary again. This
left Bogan Cain, as his wife’s execu
tor, in sole possession of almost all
the Bigham property; but not for
Edmund, who had been standing be
hind the screen door in the kitchen lis
tening, walked quietly out on the
porch and addressed the negro in this
wise: “Nigger, you’re * living now,
aren’t you?”
“Then if you want to keep on living
you better mind your own business.”
The negro thought so, too, for he
forgot all about his engagement with
the wood pile and jumping, on his
mule’s back rode straight home.
Edmund then left the porch and
went upstairs to his room where he
and his wife ar.d two/daughters were
living as best they might, cooking,
eating and sleeping all in one room.
This condition was brought about by
the continual discontent and bicker
ings among the many Bighams.
The situation in the Bigham home
was now reaching the breaking point.
Edmund was demaning another share
in the property. Smiley was planly
worried about something. The dread
fear of death hung like a pall over
Mrs. Black.
Thq fateful Saturday broke cold and
gray, ideal hog-killing weather. Ed
mund, the crack shot of the family,
the owner of four long barreled pis
tols, always did the killing. That was
his first job in the early morning. He
long. After many visits to certain 1 knew just where to shoot the animal.
law offices in Florence, a new plan
of evading the law waa mapped out.
The property was deeded to Mrs.
Marjorie Black, but the old Bigham
district of'One another still manfest-
ed itself. Mrs. Black waa made to
just behind the left ear.
After killing the hqg, Edmund left
for the woods to measure wood cut
that week on the Bigham place, ffimL
ley following after, with. Andrew Sm-
gietary tagging along behind him,
m
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